The monster's name is MS

We all had them when we were kids. You know, lurking in the shadows, in the closet, in the corner of the room behind that pile of toys on the floor. MONSTERS! We KNEW they were there, but nobody listened. You laid there in bed, in the dark, afraid to open your eyes, afraid to see the monster skulking around your room. Waiting for the chance to pounce on you! We were so silly weren't we? Now that we are grown we know how silly we were. Being afraid of the dark, lol. BUT WE WERE SO RIGHT!!! This monster was just waiting for the precise moment that you let your guard down. He was patient, waiting years, possibly decades, for his chance. His patience pays off, he sees an opportunity and jumps. HE HAS YOU! You are his prisoner now, and he is NEVER going to release you from his grasp! This monster even has a name, we know him as multiple sclerosis, or more popularly by his nickname MS.
This is a really sick monster. He prefers girls, just entering the time of their lives when they should be out dating boys, going to dances, football games. Getting involved in school activities, enjoying life. But he has no heart, he pounces and destroys all of her dreams. He might be patient and wait, wait until she has become a young woman and starts a family of her own. Ripping all of her dreams and hopes away from her. This sicko like boys too, maybe not as much as he does girls, but he doesn't forget about them. Boys on the verge of becoming young men. Having a ball in the last years of their youth before adulthood. Playing football, baseball, or basketball. You get the idea, being a kid as long as they can. This is one sick, evil, heartless monster. Ripping all of their dreams to shreds, forever!!
Don't forget though, I said he is very patient. He can wait. Sometimes he chooses the wrong moment, just has you in his fingertips, a weak grip so he lets go. You don't really notice, write his attemps off as something else, something fleeting, temporary. A pinched nerve, a pulled muscle or a cramp. You slept wrong. Any number of reasons to explain away his early strike. You were distracted, that's why you forgot half of the six items you wanted to get at the store. An itchy rash you can't explain, oh well I must be allergic to something. Maybe I should change laundry detergent. Aches and pains, maybe I'm getting arthritis, but I thought I was too young for that? You have trouble seeing, your eyes ache. Guess I should get those glasses after all.
Now you're in your 30's, or possibly even your 40's, and your monster is finally growing impatient. He decides not to wait any longer. You wake up one morning and find you can't move your side, OMG I'VE HAD A STROKE!! You're rushed to the hospital, endure a battery of tests, but it's not a stroke! Or possibly you wake up with a horrible pain in your chest, you can't breathe. You feel like you have a ton of weight on your chest. They rush you to the hospital, endure a battery of tests, to find out there is nothing wrong with your heart! This is a sadistic, sick, cruel, monster. He enjoys the fun of making you suffer. So he gives you a break, lets you feel better for a while, lets you think maybe he has decided to leave. As soon as you start feeling human again he strikes! Or your monster might like to make you suffer slowly, oh so slowly, over the rest of your life. Never letting you feel human again. He never relents, always taking, taking.
The doctors offer you hope. They say "Here, take this drug. It will help you defeat your monster". If that drug doesn't work they'll give you another, and another. All with the hope of winning your fight with your monster. But the truth is they don't know. Because your monster is so cruel, and sadistic, he might have let you feel better any way. Just to get more pleasure the next time he attacks. The doctors say "See, this medicine helped you", when they have no way of knowing if that's true or not. Most of the time these "miracle" drugs make you sicker, worse than you were without them. Your monster urges you to try another, PLEASE!! That was soooo much fun!!! Or your monster might be so strong that he laughes at these drugs, they are completely useless in your fight against him. He has emerged from the shadows, entered your world. He likes it here and has no intention of leaving.
Welcome to the world inhabited by the monster we call MS.

This was a story written by William D, our new author!